Falling Apart
by mg7777
Summary: This takes place right after the finale. It contains most of the characters, but mainly centers around Deacon. The story focuses on the car accident and the aftermath of that. Rayna is in a coma, and Deacon begins to blame himself for everything that has happened and he spends a lot of time regretting his actions.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first Fan Fiction story. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or anything else that comes from the show.

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Deacon's eyes fluttered open, but everything looked blurry. He blinked slowly a few times, and managed to get his surroundings to come into focus. He appeared to be lying on the ground, next to a completely totaled car. His hand reached up to his forehead, and came back sticky with blood.

_That's weird_, he thought, _my head doesn't hurt even close to as much as my leg._ Deacon glanced down at his leg and saw shards of glass sticking out of it. Suddenly, a memory came flooding back to him, and he gasped. Rayna was yelling at him, trying to grab the bottle, parts of which were now embedded in his leg. A car came out of nowhere, Rayna swerved, and Deacon hit his head. That was all he could remember. He was immediately overcome with panic. Where was Rayna? He tried to look for her, but he was developing a pounding headache, and every time he moved it hurt more. Deacon could just barely hear a voice over in the direction of the road. He strained to hear it, but couldn't make out what the person what saying, though he was sure that it wasn't someone that he knew.

_Maybe it's the person from the other car_, he thought. A few minutes later, Deacon heard sirens approaching. Two paramedics carried a stretcher over to him and strapped him on it.

"Sir?" One of the paramedics asked. "What is your name?"

"Deacon...Claybourne"," he whispered slowly.

"Okay, Mr. Claybourne, we are going to take you to the hospital now."

"What ...about...Rayna?"

"Who's Rayna?" The paramedics appeared to be confused, which Deacon couldn't understand.

"She was...in the car."

"Mr. Claybourne, are you saying that there was a woman in the car with you?"

"Yes, Rayna...Jaymes." Deacon watched as the paramedics exchanged a glance.

"I'll call for another unit," one of them said, pulling out his phone. Deacon was extremely worried.

_They didn't even _see_ Rayna_, he thought. _Where is she? What happened to her? _Deacon's mind was racing, but that didn't keep him from passing out.

When Deacon came to, he was being carried to an ambulance as three new paramedics tried to get the car off of Rayna's limp body.

_How did she get under the car?_ Deacon wondered. He waited on his stretcher as his paramedics left to go assist the others. Eventually, they got Rayna out and onto a stretcher. Deacon could barely stand to look at her. Rayna's body was completely limp and her limbs weren't shaped correctly, instead they were bent at strange angles. Deacon's heart sank as the paramedics stuck a tube down her throat abe began squeezing a think that looked slightly like a balloon. He knew that the balloon and tube meant that Rayna wasn't breathing on her own. Rayna was loaded onto an ambulance and it rushed off, sirens blaring. Shortly after, Deacon's ambulance did the same.


	2. Chapter 2

**So I tried to make this chapter at least a little longer... Enjoy!**

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Teddy Conrad was reading some documents when his cell phone rang.

"Hello," he answered, still holding the papers.

"Is this Mayor Conrad?" A voice on the other end asked.

"Yes, this is him," Teddy replied.

"This is Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Rayna Jaymes has just been admitted and you are the designated emergency contact person. I suggest that you come down here as soon as possible."

Teddy stood still, frozen with shock.

"Excuse me? Mr. Mayor? Are you still there?"

That was all Teddy heard before his phone slipped out of his hand, along with all of the documents that he was holding in his other hand, and hit the floor, ending the call. He walked numbly toward his daughters' rooms, and stopped in Daphne's doorway. She was fast asleep, and she looked incredibly peaceful. At age eight, Daphne still slept with a teddy bear, which she was currently holding close to her body.

_How am I supposed to wake her up and fill her with fear? _Teddy thought. _And what about Maddie? She's going to be devastated when she hears that Rayna is in the hospital. _Teddy took a deep breath and entered Daphne's room. He placed his hand on Daphne's shoulder and gently shook her.

"Baby, you have to wake up now. It's time to get out of bed," he whispered.

"But Daddy, it's nighttime," Daphne quietly protested, still half asleep.

"I know honey, but we have to go."

"Go where, Daddy?"

"I'll explain in the car. Grab your pillow, bear, and blanket and you can sleep in the car."

As Daphne began to slowly wake up enough to gather her things, Teddy left to go get his older daughter.

"Maddie, you need to get up now. We're getting in the car."

"Where are we going? It's the middle of the night," she replied sleepily.

"I'll explain later. Just take your pillow and blanket and go meet me in the car. The keys are on the table."

Maddie got out of bed, grabbed her pillow, blanket, and cell phone, and left to go get in the car. Teddy returned to Daphne's room to see that she had fallen asleep again, holding her pillow, blanket, and bear. He scooped her and her things up and carried her out to the car. After everyone was in the car, Daphne fast asleep and Maddie trying to make herself wake up, Teddy began to drive to the hospital.

"So why did we have to get up, Dad?" Maddie asked.

Teddy sighed. This was a question that was inevitable, but not at all enjoyable. "Your mother was admitted to the hospital. I don't know what happened, or how hurt she is; I just know that she's there. We're on our way there now."

"What?" Maddie exclaimed.

"Shh, keep your voice down, Daphne's sleeping. Anyways, that is really all I know. They called me and said that she was there and that I should come."

"Dad, what if she _dies_? What are we going to do?"

"Honey, I think that dying is a bit of a jump right now. For all we know she could have tripped and sprained her wrist or something and she just needs someone to drive her home. We'll worry about anything more serious if there's something to worry about, and I'm sure there won't be."

"But how can you be sure?"

"Okay, I'm not positive, but I have a feeling."

Maddie seemed to accept this and she leaned back against her pillow and began to drift off to sleep. Teddy hadn't really thought about what would happen if Rayna were seriously injured. In the heat of the moment, all he's been thinking about was getting the girls out of bed and getting down to the hospital. But now he stopped to think about how much he needed his ex-wife. So maybe their marriage hadn't worked out, but she was still an amazing mother to his daughters and a huge part of his life. He needed her there to help him, there was no way that he would be able to parent the two girls on his own. Teddy decided not to think about anything so morbid, and he pushed the thoughts out of his mind.

_After all_,he thought, _she's probably fine._

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**The next chapter will probably introduce a lot more characters.**_  
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	3. Chapter 3

**So I'm not sure if people will like how I portray Lamar in this chapter. But I'm trying to show how people can react in unexpected ways when faced with this kind of trauma. I hope you like it!  
**

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Tandy heard a car honking outside of her house. She glanced out of the window, groaned, and headed back to the couch, where she'd been watching TV. The person in the car was her father. Tandy couldn't' believe that her father had come to harass her—and that he was honking his horn this late at night. Actually, that was a lie. Lamar had never really thought about anyone but himself, so she wasn't that surprised. The honking continued, and Tandy began to get really angry. She had _quit_, and she still couldn't get away from her father. Even though she knew that a reaction was what Lamar wanted, she still went and opened the door.

"What?" She yelled. But all thought of her anger left when she saw her father's pale face. Tandy hadn't seen him look like that since her mother had dies. She ran over to the car.

"Daddy? What's wrong?" Tandy asked through the open window.

"It's Rayna. She was admitted to the hospital, and they told me...they said that..." Lamar was unable to finish his sentence and tears threatened to spill out of his eyes.

"What did they say, Daddy?" Tandy gently asked.

"It's bad," he whispered.

Tandy was surprised at how vulnerable and weak her father seemed, but she didn't stop to dwell on it. Instead, she focused on getting to Rayna.

"Okay, Daddy, I'm going to go lock the door and then we';; go to the hospital. Do you want me to drive?"

Lamar shook his head. Tandy ran up to her house, grabbed her cell phone, locked the door, and sprinted back to the car. Lamar instantly pulled away and set off toward the hospital.

When Juliette finished her song, there was silence throughout The Bluebird. Soon, as if the audience was waking up from some kind of dream, they slowly began to clap. Juliette smiled, and walked off of the stage. For once, she was satisfied. She had played at The Bluebird Café, people had liked her song, and she was fairly certain that her mama had been watching the performance from wherever she was. Juliette returned her seat and took a sip of her drink. She noticed that Deacon wasn't there, and felt a little regret for yelling at him earlier.

_Oh well, he'll get over it_, she thought.

Scarlett raced into the hospital, and skidded to a stop when she reached the front desk.

"I'm here for Deacon Claybourne," she panted, out of breath from her run from the car.

"He's in Trauma right now. You can wait in the waiting room down the hall." A nurse responded, without looking up from her computer.

Scarlett walked into the waiting room and sat down on a hard chair to wait for Gunnar to come in from parking the car. A few minutes later, he entered the waiting room, and she tried to force a smile on her face, but it was very hard. After all, her uncle had been in a car accident. He could be _dying._ Scarlett couldn't believe that only half an hour earlier, she was trying to explain to Gunnar that she wasn't rejecting his proposal, she just wasn't accepting it yet—she needed to think about it. All of that seemed petty now, as her uncle lay in a hospital bed. Scarlett had been told over the phone that Uncle Deacon was conscious but the extent of his injuries was unknown. She closed her eyes and prayed that he would be okay.

Teddy pulled into the first parking spot that he saw when he reached the hospital. He got out of the car, and went to go get Daphne and Maddie. Maddie was barely awake as she walked with Teddy, who was carrying a sleeping Daphne, into the hospital. They walked up to the front desk and got the attention of a nurse.

"Excuse me, ma'am, I'm Teddy Conrad, I was called and told that Rayna Jaymes had been admitted."

"Yes, she's in Trauma, you can go wait in the waiting room down the hall."

"Trauma? I'm sorry, but I don't understand. What happened to her?"

"Miss Jaymes was in a car accident. She was found with Deacon Claybourne in a ditch with the car."

"What? How is she? Is she going to be okay?" Teddy had now gone into full panic mode.

"She is currently in critical condition. We will try to have a doctor keep you updated. Please wait in the room down the hall." Teddy walked slowly into the waiting room. There were about seven people there, including Deacon's niece Scarlett and a man whom Teddy assumed was Scarlett's boyfriend. Teddy laid Daphne down on a seat, wrapped in her blanket, and settled in himself, next to Maddie, who had heard the conversation with the nurse and began crying quietly.

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**Sorry that the part with Juliette was so short. I can try to have more with her later. Also I think the ending could have been better...you can tell me what you think in reviews!  
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	4. Chapter 4

**This is important: I am not a doctor, and I know that I will get some medical things wrong. I have done research, but I don't know enough to make this completely medically accurate. Just to let you know before reading, so no one gets mad if there are mistakes. Enjoy!**

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Shortly after Scarlett settled down in the waiting room, she saw the Mayor of Nashville enter with his daughters. She wanted to ask him why he was there and if it had anything to do with her uncle's accident, but she felt a little uncomfortable addressing him. It took a few minutes, but she eventually mustered up the courage to speak.

"Was Rayna in the car with Uncle Deacon?" Scarlett asked, as this was the most logical reason that she could think of for Rayna's family to be there.

"Yes, she was," Teddy replied in a tone that Scarlett had never heard him use before. She had seen his campaign speeches, and even when he was dealing with a scandal, like the one with his affair, he always seemed incredibly confident. But now, he seemed solemn and depressed. Scarlett was afraid to ask anything else, because she didn't want to interrogate him at such an upsetting time. Besides, before she even had the chance to say anything else, Teddy was distracted by two people who entered the waiting room. Scarlett immediately recognized the man as Lamar Wyatt. She didn't know who the woman with him was, but assumed she was Rayna's sister, whom Scarlett had heard about from her uncle.

"Teddy have you heard anything?" The woman asked.

"No, Tandy, all they said is that she's in critical condition," he replied.

Scarlett observed as Lamar silently sat down in a chair. She didn't know much about Lamar, except that he didn't like her uncle. However, she did know from her uncle's stories that Lamar was very powerful and manipulative. But in this moment, Lamar looked so weak and defeated, that she could barely believe that the man in Uncle Deacon's stories existed.

Just then, a man entered the room wearing scrubs and a lab coat. Scarlett immediately fixated her eyes on the man, because he was the first doctor to come in the room since she had gotten there.

"Family of Deacon Claybourne?" The man asked, looking around the waiting room.

"That's me!" Scarlett exclaimed as she stood up quickly enough to make her head spin. She grabbed the chair to steady herself and waited for the doctor to tell her about her uncle's condition.

"Deacon is conscious and talking. We stitched up a laceration on his forehead and removed some glass shards from his leg. He also has a minor concussion, but all he really needs to do about that is rest. He is currently up in CT checking to see if there are any internal injuries, but to our knowledge he will be fine. If the CT comes back clean, then he'll just have to stay the night for observation."

"Oh, thank you so much!" Scarlett ran over and hugged the doctor. She was overjoyed and could not believe how lucky Uncle Deacon had been.

As Teddy listened to Deacon's doctor, he wondered why he still hadn't gotten an update on Rayna. He was about to ask the doctor, when Tandy spoke up.

"What about Rayna Jaymes? Is there any news on her?"

The doctor looked uncomfortable. "Well, I'm just with Mr. Claybourne, but I can go see if one of her doctors can come out and talk to you," he said, before quickly exiting the room. They had to wait a few more minutes, but Teddy was relieved when a doctor came out looking for Rayna Jaymes' family. However, his report was much more unpleasant than the one about Deacon.

"Miss Jaymes has been unconscious since she was found under the car. She was found with a crushed pelvis along with many other broken bones. The extent of her internal injuries is currently unknown, but the car was partly on top of her, which likely has caused internal bleeding. Miss Jaymes will be taken up to surgery shortly. We are currently trying to stabilize her and run some tests to see what we're dealing with."

Teddy couldn't believe what he was hearing. Rayna was actually dying. This was so much more serious than he originally thought, and he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to handle it.

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**Please review! I love getting reviews and they make me motivated to write fast!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I know that even though I said that this was going to be about Deacon, there was only one chapter on him. But I promise it will be about Deacon, I was just trying to introduce the other characters and sort of set the scene first. So here's another Deacon chapter! And there will be lots more!**

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Ever since Deacon had been unloaded from the ambulance, he'd had people fussing over him: putting in an IV, stitching up his forehead, getting the glass out of his leg, and more. Deacon had been so overwhelmed by the large amount of people who were all doing different things at the same time, that he'd barely been able to think, let alone ask about Rayna. But now, his forehead was fixed, his leg was pretty good (and the painkillers were doing a great job), and all of his other cuts were cleaned up. He was lying in a CT machine, and for the first time since the ambulance, he was alone, so he promptly began to panic. Deacon knew that he had been lucky. All he got was a gash on his head, glass in his leg, various cuts and bruises all over his body, and a minor concussion. Right now the doctors were checking for internal injuries, but were fairly confident that they wouldn't find any. But Deacon had seen Rayna, when she was rescued. He had watched as a car was basically lifted off of her. He knew that she hadn't been breathing on her own. Rayna had definitely been hurt much worse, and Deacon was worried.

As soon as Deacon got out of the CT machine, he began firing questions at his doctor.

"Where's Rayna? Is she alive? Is she going to be okay?"

The doctor sighed. "Sir, I honestly don't know how she is. I've been with you, and I don't know what her injuries are. But I did see her come out of the ambulance, and truthfully, it didn't look good."

Deacon was silent. He knew that Rayna was hurt, but to hear it from a doctor was devastating. "I want to see her," he whispered.

"I know you do, Mr. Claybourne, but she's being cared for by her doctors now and you can't be there. Besides, you need rest. Do you know what a concussion is? Your brain hit your skull."

"I know but it's a _minor_ concussion. And by the way, call me Deacon."

"It still requires rest. I'll take you to the room where you'll stay tonight and notify you when we get your test results. And Deacon?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll try to get an update for you."

The doctor wheeled Deacon to a room and a nurse helped him get into bed. Then, they left, and Deacon found himself alone, once again. He stared up at the ceiling of his room, and slowly, due to all of the painkillers, fell asleep.

"_You look sexy tonight," Deacon said, causing Rayna to giggle. At twenty-two, she was young, talented, and stunning. But none of that mattered to Deacon. He loved her for her personality: how sweet and caring she was, and how much she made him laugh._

"_I'm wearing a t-shirt and underwear," she pointed out._

"_Exactly," he replied, causing her to punch him on the shoulder._

"_Deacon Claybourne, you are a pig," she said, before shaking out her hair and kissing his neck._

"_You love me, Ray."_

"_I know."_

"_So I was thinkin'..."_

"_I hate it when you start your sentences like that."_

"_No you don't."_

"_You're right I don't," Rayna replied, laughing.. "Anyway, what is it?"_

"_We haven't written in a while, and I have some ideas."_

"_We haven't written in a while? Sure, if a while means four days. But you know I love writing with you. Let's do it."_

_ "Wait, forget it, let's wait. I have a better idea."_

_ "And your better idea is...?"_

_ "This." Deacon started kissing Rayna, while he slowly slid his hands under her shirt._

_ "Oh, that," she murmured. "I like that idea..." She rolled over so that she was on top of him. "I _really _like that idea."_

Deacon awoke with a start. He opened his eyes and saw the empty hospital room. Everything that had just happened was a memory, not reality. He pushed the call button, and waited for a nurse to come to his room.

"Is everything okay Deacon?" His nurse said as she rushed into his room.

"Can you page Doctor Bremner for me? He said he would get me an update on Rayna Jaymes."

"Okay, one second." The nurse paged Deacon's doctor and Deacon eagerly waited to see if the doctor would come. A few minutes later he did, but his face looked grim.

"I got your page. Is this about Rayna?"

Deacon nodded. "Yeah, did you find out what's going on with her?"

"I did. Unfortunately, Rayna has not regained consciousness and she has many severely broken bones. Her pelvis is crushed, and she's bleeding internally in various places. They're taking her up to surgery now, and they'll find out more about her injuries when they open her up. Right now, they're worried about compartment syndrome."

"What's that?"

"Compartment syndrome is when there is a lot if swelling and increased pressure in the compartments inside her fascia, which are thick layers of tissue."

"What happens if she has it?"

"Well, it really depends on how early we can catch it. If she has it, we can relieve the pressure and she will be fine."

"But what if you're too busy with her other injuries and you don't notice it?"

"Deacon, that's not going to happen. There are a lot of people in her surgery team. If she has it, we will fix it."

"Please, just tell me the worst-case scenario. I need to know."

"Well, sometimes...sometimes it can lead to amputation. But that is only in the more severe case, and when it is caught late."

Deacon gasped. "Doc, they need to save her limbs. She's a performer. She plays guitar; she walks across the stage. Everyone needs their limbs, but _especially_ the queen of country music. Please, Doc, tell them how important this is."

"Deacon, there is not a person in this town, who doesn't know Rayna Jaymes. Trust me, they know how important it is. Now you need to sleep. I know how short your nap was. Do you want something to help you fall asleep?"

Deacon nodded, and watched as medication was added to a tube going into his arm. Soon he was fast asleep, this time deep and dreamless.

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**I hope you liked it! Please review! Also you can give me suggestions in your reviews if you want, I got the dream idea from a review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I have to study for exams, and I'm procrastinating by writing! Yay! And that means that I have another chapter today!**

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Deacon woke up to see the sun shining brightly through his windows and his niece asleep in a chair next to his bed.

"Scarlett," he whispered.

She opened her eyes slowly and smiled when she saw that he was awake. "Uncle Deacon..." Scarlett trailed off. Then she sat up straight and laid her

hand on his. "I'm so glad that you're okay."

Deacon looked up at her from his bed and sighed. "Me too, Scarlett," he said,

and began to try and push his body up into a sitting position. Scarlett just laughed and pressed a button, which made the back of his bed rise, helping him sit up.

"Have you seen Rayna?" Deacon asked. "Can I see her?"

"Rayna's still in surgery," Scarlett replied.

"How can she still be in surgery?"

"The doctors say that surgeries can take a really long time. They also said that it's a good thing that she's still in surgery because with her injuries it _will _take a long time so if she was out by now it would mean she wasn't alive."

"Is her family here?"

"Yeah."

Deacon was satisfied knowing that right after surgery there would be someone there for Rayna, even if it was her awful family. Well, awful except for the girls of course. Deacon still couldn't believe that he was a father. That Maddie was _his_ daughter, and not Teddy's. He was overwhelmed with a newfound kind of love for his daughter. But as suddenly as the love came, it was overshadowed by self-hatred. Deacon had had such a good chance—he and Rayna could have been parents to this girl, but he blew it. He made Rayna seem like a villain for protecting Maddie, started drinking again, and caused a car accident that could kill Rayna. Deacon knew that Rayna had been doing what she thought was best when she had kept the secret about Maddie. Of course he was upset that he missed out on so much time with his daughter and even more upset that Teddy got that time, but he didn't blame Rayna. He was violent back then, and he could have hurt Maddie. He regretted ever putting Rayna in the position where she had to decide whether he was safe enough to be near their daughter. _Their_ daughter. It felt so weird to even think that. For thirteen years it had always been _Rayna's _daughter or daughters. But he, Deacon Claybourne, actually had a daughter.

Deacon was lost in thought, and he didn't notice when his doctor entered the room. Well, Deacon, you're free to go as soon as you fill out your discharge papers. I want you to use crutches until your leg heals, because those were some pretty deep wounds. Also, because of your concussion, no reading or any other kind of work that requires brainpower. That includes writing anything down, which means you can't write songs. Oh, and minimal use of the TV. Scarlett, are you going to be there to make sure he follows all of the rules?"

"Yes sir, I'll be there."

"Good. Well here's your prescription for the painkillers. Don't take them more than specified on the bottle. I'll have a nurse bring you your discharge papers. Goodbye."

"Bye, Doc."

The doctor was on his way out the room when Deacon stopped him.

"Wait, one last thing. Do you have an update on Rayna?"

"Well, I'm guessing that Scarlett told you that she's still in surgery. The last I heard they were basically piecing together her pelvis. I also think she had a splenectomy because her spleen ruptured and they couldn't fix it because she was losing too much blood."

"What?"

"Basically, her spleen broke open and cause a lot of internal bleeding and it was too much to fix so they removed the spleen."

"Can she live without her spleen?"

"Yes, she can, it's just harder to fight off infection."

"And that's all you know?"

"That's all. I'll get the nurse and she'll bring the papers." The doctor then turned and left the room. Deacon stared after him. He didn't want the discharge papers. They meant that he had to go home. He didn't want to leave while Rayna's fate was still uncertain, but he had nowhere to go. He couldn't exactly wait in the surgical waiting room with Rayna's family. Deacon heard footsteps at the door, and looked up, expecting to see the nurse. Instead, he saw Tandy.

"I heard that you're being released," she said stiffly.

Deacon nodded. "Yeah."

"The person in the other car said she saw you guys fighting before you noticed her. Rayna was pulling a bottle away from you. You know she might not make it. This could _kill_ her. Your irresponsibility couldkill her."

"Tandy, you don't understand how incredibly horrible I feel. I am so sorry for everything."

"You should be. But believe it or not, I didn't come here to yell at you. I came here to say that the girls are asking about you, and for some reason Daddy is asking about you. They want you to come wait with us. Scarlett can come too. I guess now is really the time to forget about our anger and pray for Rayna."

Deacon was surprised, but he didn't argue. "I'll come as soon as I'm officially discharged," he said.

Tandy nodded, spun around, and left.

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**I hope you liked it! Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I hope you like this chapter!**

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Teddy knew that Deacon was coming. Tandy had returned a few minutes earlier and told all of them. But he still felt unprepared when he heard footsteps coming toward him and looked up to see a man whom he'd disliked for thirteen years. Deacon was on crutches with Scarlett accompanying him. Teddy was prepared to glare at Deacon, and punish him for what he did to Rayna. Instead, remembering that Rayna would want them to get along, he put a neutral expression on his face and gave Deacon a slight nod. Then Teddy turned away and observed Deacon out of the corner of his eye. Deacon was clearly uncomfortable. He stood awkwardly at the entrance to the waiting room, completely still, as if he was waiting for someone to invite him in. And then someone did.

"If you want, you can go sit by the girls," Lamar said.

Teddy was surprised. He knew that Lamar had always hated Deacon; it was something that often pleased him. So why was Lamar the one who invited Deacon into the waiting room? And why did he suggest sitting near the girls? For a brief moment, he thought that Lamar might be trying to anger _Teddy_, because the truth about Maddie's father had been revealed. But one quick glance at Lamar cleared that up. There was no smirk, no knowing look. Lamar looked depressed. It was a look that Teddy had never seen on him. He assumed that Lamar was thinking about Rayna's mother, as Teddy himself couldn't get that topic out of his brain. After all, Rayna and Tandy had lost their mother at a young age due to a car accident. Would Daphne and Maddie lose theirs? Was Teddy going to be a widower? He tried once again to push the thoughts out of his brain, but they remained stuck there.

After thirty more minutes of waiting, a doctor entered the surgical waiting room, and walked toward their family.

"I have a new update," he said. "Unfortunately, due to the pelvic injuries there is a large amount of bleeding. We were unable to continue with the surgery because she was becoming too unstable. We have packed her organs and she will be kept in the ICU until we can take her back to surgery."

"Packed her organs?" Tandy asked.

"Yes. Basically, we put a lot of padding in to keep pressure on her organs and keep them from bleeding. We will repair the lacerations when we can continue her surgery."

"I don't mean to be rude, but if you still haven't finished, what were you doing for the hours that she's been in there?" Teddy asked.

"Honestly, we've had a lot of setbacks. We repaired her brain bleed, but as soon as she went on bypass so we could repair her heart, her brain bleed reopened. Then we had to fix her heart and set multiple ribs and other broken bones. And then we pretty much spent the rest of the time restarting her heart and trying to pack her as quickly as possible."

"Restarting her heart?" Maddie repeated quietly. Teddy hadn't realized that she was awake—she'd passed out from exhaustion an hour earlier.

The doctor looked at Maddie and gave her a small smile. "Honey, we are going to try our very best to help your mom." He told her reassuringly.

"What's the mortality rate?" She asked. Teddy looked at her in shock. He didn't realize that his thirteen-year-old was worrying about mortality rates. He knew that she was concerned about her mother, but actually thinking about how probable it was that she wouldn't survive was much more serious. Teddy wished that he could protect her and Daphne from feeling this mind of pain, but there was nothing that he could do. He exchanged a glance with the doctor and nodded, knowing that Maddie deserved to know what was going on.

"Well, pelvic fractures like this usually have a mortality rate of about 55%, but with the amount of bleeding that your mother is experiencing, we'd say about 60 %."

Once again, Teddy was shocked. He had not realized how high the chances were that Rayna could die.

When Deacon heard the mortality rate, he felt as though his head was about to explode. He was filled with thoughts that were all bouncing around and shoving each other out of the way. _60%? How could I do this to her? What will happen if she dies? How can I live without her? She can't die—I love her._ But Deacon was worried that his love wasn't good enough to save her. He wanted to go back in time and show up at the CMAs as her boyfriend. He could have talked to her, told her that he understood why she had kept the secret from him. Instead he followed numbly as the family was lead to go see Rayna.

Rayna looked so small in her bed in the ICU. She was covered in surgical drapes, but her face was still visible. Her hair was matted with blood, and Deacon noticed that she had a cut on her forehead that matched his. But that was the only similarity. Rayna was seriously injured, and he had barely been hurt. He couldn't believe how unfair this felt. Why should he be okay if she was not? He was the one who caused the accident—he deserved to be the one to lie in the hospital bed dying.

Later that day, the doctors determined that it was time to take Rayna back to surgery. Her heart rate and blood pressure had improved, and the way they worded it to Deacon was "it's now or never." He watched as they wheeled her bed away, and then followed her family into the waiting room. For hours, he sat motionless, observing what was going on around him. Tandy and Teddy tried to convince the girls to eat, Lamar sat staring at the clock, and Scarlett talked quietly to Gunnar, who had returned to keep her company. Finally, the person that he had been waiting for entered the room. It was Rayna's doctor and he came bearing news of her surgery. All Deacon could think was _60%_. It had been in his head the whole surgery, taunting him, and now he felt as though someone was shouting it in his ear. He watched as the doctor approached, his face expressionless.

"She's in Room 24-08. She won't be conscious for a while, but you can go wait with her."

Deacon felt his entire body fill with relief. She had made it past the hard part. The surgery was over. The mortality rate was no longer 60%. She was going to be okay. The fact that she might not wake up didn't cross his mind, though if it had, he may not have been so happy.

* * *

**Now that Rayna is out of surgery, I'm finally going to get to what it says in the summary (the coma). Sorry that it took so long. Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Juliette stretched out on her couch, and sighed. She hadn't felt this content since her mama had died. The sun was shining brightly through her window and she could see it reflecting off her CMA trophy. She reached for the TV remote, tuned on the TV, and began channel surfing. After skipping through a bunch of talk shows she heard the name 'Rayna Jaymes'. Intrigued, Juliette kept it on and settled into the various fluffy pillows to watch.

_Last night the queen of country music, Rayna Jaymes, was found under a car on the side of the road, alongside her old bandleader, Deacon Claybourne. A witness says that Rayna was coming right at another car, but swerved at the last minute, sending her car rolling across the road and into a nearby ditch. While Deacon was awake and talking at the scene, Rayna remained unconscious as she was pulled out from under the car and loaded into an ambulance. The pair was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and both of their conditions are still unknown._

Juliette stared at the screen in complete astonishment and dismay. She had absolutely no idea that something so awful had happened. Suddenly, she remembered something that she had forgotten last night after her song, something that gave her a terrible feeling. Deacon _had_ come to The Bluebird, unlike what she had thought last night. She remembered seeing him leave, and seeing Rayna follow him. She immediately paid close attention to the pictures of the abandoned car shown on the screen. Juliette felt sick as she recognized the area. Deacon and Rayna had been on their way to Deacon's house when they had their accident. While Juliette was singing and then feeling happy with herself, their lives were being risked.

* * *

Deacon stroked Rayna's hand. For the first time since she returned from surgery, they were alone together. Rayna still hadn't woken up, but the doctors said that it was normal. That she would be awake soon. Rayna's family had gone to get some food in the cafeteria, and Scarlett had gone home to shower and change. She had tried to get Deacon to come with her, but he couldn't resist some alone time with the love of his life. He moved Rayna's long gorgeous hair out of the way and kissed her forehead.

"I was so worried, Ray," he whispered into her ear. "I love you so much."

He raised his head and stared at her, waiting for her to wake up, to respond to him, to say that she loved him back. Even though Rayna's body remained perfectly still, Deacon still felt like she could hear him, through her anesthesia. He smiled, and kissed her again, this time on her lips. Deacon couldn't wait until Rayna woke up. He wanted to tell her everything that he had thought about while she was in surgery—that he forgave her, that he loved her more than anything, that he would never let her go. For now, he just held her hand and laid his head on her bed. He was thoroughly exhausted, and now that he knew that she was going to be okay, he could fall asleep without any medication.

* * *

When Deacon woke up, he was surprised to see that he had slept for three hours and had been moved to a cot. He immediately looked at Rayna and noticed that she was still unconscious. He glanced around the room, and saw that it was empty. Confused, he went to find anyone who could tell him if Rayna had woken up while he was asleep. Deacon found Rayna's doctor and began to bombard him with questions.

"Did she wake up? Why did no one get me up? Why is she asleep now—did she go back to sleep or something?"

"Deacon. She hasn't woken up yet," the doctor replied.

"What? You said that she was going to wake up a while ago. Why is she still asleep?"

"Look, Deacon, I really don't know."

"_You don't know?_ How can you not know? You're the doctor—it's your job to know what's going on and why she won't wake up."

"We're going to give her a few more hours and if she still doesn't wake up we'll run some tests. Now I have to go, I have other patients."

"Wait a second. I need you to tell me what's going on. What kind of tests? Why don't you just run them now?"

"I really have to go. I'll explain the tests if she needs them. And we're not giving them now because we don't even know if there's anything to look for. Maybe she's just taking a long time to shake off the anesthesia. Don't worry. I'll talk to you later."

Deacon watched as the doctor quickly strode off down the hallway. He was incredibly annoyed that he couldn't get the answers that he wanted, but he decided to just wait with Rayna and let the doctor do his job. If she was still asleep in a few hours, then he would make sure she got those tests done.


	9. Chapter 9

"Doctor Wilson to room 24-08, Doctor Wilson to room 24-08."

Scarlett cocked her head in confusion at the announcement that she heard over the PA. That was Rayna's room, but not Rayna's doctor. She glanced around the room and stopped the first doctor she saw—not that there was a lack of them in the hospital cafeteria.

"Excuse me sir, do you know who Doctor Wilson is?" Scarlett asked.

"Yeah, he's a neurologist," the doctor replied before walking away.

_A neurologist?_ Scarlett thought. _ Why would Rayna need a neurologist? Is there something wrong with her brain?_

Knowing that her uncle would need her, Scarlett quickly cleaned up her food and set off for Rayna's room.

"Hey! Scarlett!" A voice called, and Scarlett whipped around in surprise.

"Gunnar? What're you doing here?"

"I miss you. You've only been home once since the accident. And I'm still waiting for an answer to my proposal, you know."

"Uncle Deacon needs me, Gunnar. Do you really think that I'm thinking about that proposal right now Gunnar? He could have _died._ And now he's wallowing in guilt because of Rayna. I can't just leave him."

"I know, but I need you too."

"Gunnar! You are being incredibly selfish right now. I was going to offer to let you come up to the room with me, but now I'm not sure that I want you there." Seeing the hurt look on his face, Scarlett realized that she wasn't being fair to him—after all she was punishing him for wanting to spend time with her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I miss you a lot too. Do you want to come up with me? A neurologist just got sent to Rayna's room and I was going to go see what's going on. But after that we could go somewhere if you want. Uncle Deacon will be fine if I'm gone for a few hours."

"Okay, Scarlett, that sounds great."

The couple walked hand in hand up to Rayna's room, but when they got there, Rayna wasn't there. Deacon was sitting on a cot, and Rayna's family members were sitting in chairs scattered around the room.

"What happened, where is she?" Scarlett asked.

Deacon replied in a hollow, tired voice. "She still hasn't woken up so they're running some tests on her brain."

Scarlett gave him a sympathetic look. "Are you okay?" She whispered, hoping no one else in the room cared enough to listen to their conversation.

"_I'm_ fine," he replied.

Scarlett could tell that her uncle was once again angry with himself for what happened. She looked up at Gunnar, her eyes wide and apologetic.

"I'm really sorry, but I think that I'm going to have to stay here. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah," he replied, and Scarlett could tell that he was trying to mask his disappointment.

"Do you want to wait here with me?" She offered.

"I think that I'm just gonna go home. I'll wait for you if you want to come by later."

"I'll try," she said, as she watched him walk out the door.

* * *

The doctor returned, wheeling Rayna in her bed, and stopped to talk to all of the visitors. "We didn't find anything that explains why she's not waking up. She still has some brain activity, so she's not brain dead, and right now we'll just have to wait and see what happens. All of this sounded fuzzy to Lamar. Ever since he got the call that his daughter was in the hospital, he had felt trapped in his head. He spoke minimal amounts to everyone else, but mainly he just contemplated the situation. Outside noises seemed to drift away as he thought about his younger daughter. The words that she had said in the hospital when he had his heart attack kept coming back to him. _I just feel like we missed our life together._ Lamar remembered how she'd been crying when she said that, and the very though of it made him want to just break down and sob. But instead he remained silent and frozen. He felt like his daughter's words applied to this situation perfectly. Lamar had spent so much time angry at Rayna, and making her angry at him, that he felt like they'd never really been able to enjoy spending time together. The worst part was that no matter how deeply he regretted how much time they missed out on, her knew that he would never be able to get that time back. Even if Rayna woke up that minute, they would never get back the decades that they had spent disliking each other. And that thought was truly heart wrenching.

* * *

_"No one will ever love you like I do, like I do, like I do." The last line rang out across the living room._

_ "I love it. What do you think?" Rayna asked._

_ "I think it's great. But now that we're done writing it, do you want to go somewhere?"_

_ "Deacon, it's three in the morning and pitch black outside. Where are we going to go?"_

_ "I have a place in mind."_

_ "Of course you do. When do you _not_ have some kind of plan ready?" She teased._

_ "Yeah, well if I didn't then we would never do anything! You are horrible at coming up with stuff to do." Deacon joked._

_ Rayna laughed. "True..." She said._

_Rayna followed him into the car and looked out her window as they drove. They were the only ones on the small country road, and it felt incredibly peaceful. Deacon stopped the car at a field, got out, and lay down on the ground about ten feet away._

"_Have you lost your mind? What are you doing?" Rayna asked._

"_Come lay next to me and I'll show you." He replied, patting the ground next to him._

_She jumped out of the car and lay down. Deacon put his arm around her and puled her in close. With his other hand he pointed up to the sky._

"_Look at the stars, Ray. See how gorgeous they are."_

_She smiled at him. "They're beautiful."_

_They lay next to each other for hours without talking much, just looking up at the sky. Occasionally, one of them would turn their head and kiss the other, or murmur, "I love you" into their ear. Rayna was completely content. She loved the man beside her so much and she knew that he was her soul mate and that they would be together forever._

Rayna remembered that day clearly. She had been so full of love for Deacon, and had been positive that they would get married and have kids together when they were older. But things changed. He started drinking a lot, and when she did get pregnant she knew that he wasn't ready to be a father, so she let him go. She regretted that decision every day. At the moment, Rayna could hear Deacon whispering to her to wake up.

_I _am_ awake_, she thought, confused. She tried to move, to prove to him that she was awake, but she couldn't get her body to budge. She tried to open her eyes, but it was as if they were glued shut. Rayna began to panic. She wanted to call out for Deacon to help her, but she couldn't get her mouth to open. Throughout all of this, she could still hear him begging her to wake up. It was torture—to hear him hurting so much and not be able to comfort him. She didn't understand why she felt so trapped.

_What's going on? Why can't I move? _ She thought. Rayna was in a full hysteria and she kept on desperately trying to call for help, but all of her pleas ended up as just thoughts. _Please help me! Please help me! Please... _ And despite her efforts to stay awake, to keep on fighting, Rayna felt herself slipping away.

* * *

"Please, Ray, wake up," Deacon pleaded. Suddenly he heard a loud beeping noise. He looked at her monitor, startled. Then a nurse came rushing in to the room and. She pushed Deacon out of the way and pressed a blue button on the wall.

"We need a crash cart in here!" The nurse yelled, before turning to Deacon. "Sir, I need you to leave the room now."

"What's happening? What's going on?" He desperately cried, but no one answered. The last thing that Deacon saw before being herded out of the room was a question mark on Rayna's monitor in the spot where her heart rate should have been.


	10. Chapter 10

Tandy watched as Daphne and Maddie ran ahead of her, eager to return to their mother's side. She laughed at how adorable they were as they raced down the hallway, both of them eager to be the first one in the room. But her laughter disappeared, when she saw them stop suddenly, right before, the entrance to the room. As Tandy rushed up, she noticed Deacon staring through the window into Rayna's room. She looked over his shoulder, and saw Rayna surrounded by doctors and nurses doing many tasks—putting in a breathing tube; adding medicine to her IV; and most importantly, attempting to restart her heart. Tandy glanced at Daphne and Maddie, and saw that they were both frozen as they stood looking into the room. She knew that they should not be witnessing this traumatizing scene, but Tandy wasn't sure what to do. She wanted to stay and make sure Rayna was okay, and she didn't think that she would be able to get the girls to leave when their mother's heart wasn't beating. Instead she just walked up and stood in between them, putting her arms around their shoulders and holding them close.

Another doctor walked into the room, and left the door open, which meant that now all of the observers could hear what was going on.

"Push one of epi!" A doctor yelled. Tandy knew from when her father had been crashing like this that epi, short for epinephrine, was supposed to help start the heart.

"Charge to two hundred. And clear!" Everyone stepped back as one of the doctors held paddles to Rayna's chest. Tandy anxiously watched the heart monitor, but Rayna's heartbeat didn't return.

"Push another epi and charge to two-fifty!" Again, they tried to start Rayna's heart, but nothing happened. Daphne began sobbing as she buried her face in her aunt's side and Tandy noticed that silent tears were streaming down Maddie's face.

"Charge to three-fifty!" Tandy watched as the monitor showed a low heartbeat that slowly quickened until it was steady. She breathed a sigh of relief, and squatted down to talk to the girls.

"It's going to be okay. Her heart's beating now, and we're going to go in and see her. Don't worry." The three of them entered the room, passing Deacon who was still staring at Rayna.

* * *

Deacon couldn't stop looking through the window. He sad Tandy, Maddie, and Daphne go to sit by Rayna, and knew that he should go in too. But he remained in his place, staring at her. He was in shock, still trying to wrap his brain around what had happened. Because Rayna had basically been dead. Her heart had stopped beating. She was _dead_, and then suddenly she was alive again. Deacon knew that cardiac arrest happened to lots of people—that it had even happened to Lamar—but he couldn't believe that it had happened to someone that he loved. He saw Rayna's daughters crying and holding on to her arms, and still he stood there, just watching. He saw Tandy's mouth moving as she tried to comfort the distraught girls, but the door was once again closed and he couldn't hear what she was saying. Deacon wished that he had someone there to comfort him. Rayna had always been so good at that. If he was upset, she helped him feel better; if he was angry, she calmed him down. Well, that was only if he was sober. Deacon was a mean drunk. Before he went to rehab for the fifth time, he completely wrecked Rayna's apartment multiple times, until she decided that enough was enough. Now Deacon wished that he wasn't sober, because being drunk helped him numb his feelings, even the ones for Rayna. She had learned that the hard way, and he felt guilty for that. Deacon felt guilty for a lot of things, lately. He felt guilty that he had been horrible enough to force Rayna to make a decision that involved keeping his daughter from him, he felt guilty that he had gotten so angry at her when the truth was revealed, and he felt guilty that he had caused a car accident that put her life on the line. Deacon decided that one thing that he would not feel guilty about was not being by her side every step of her recovery, so he entered the hospital room.

* * *

Later that day, Deacon had begun feeling too tired to stand, so he had retired to a cot in Rayna's room. The second his head hit the pillow he was asleep.

_Deacon's face was pressed against the glass. He watched as Rayna's body twitched when the electricity from the paddles entered it. He saw the doctors try over and over again to save the woman whom he loved more than anything in the world. But she was too far-gone. One doctor sighed, place the paddles aside, and said "Time of death, twelve fifty-six._

"_No!" Deacon screamed. He watched as they took out all of her tubes and left her in her bed. He ran in and grabbed her, sobbing. "Ray! Rayna, please come back to me! Please!" But it was no use. Rayna was dead. The people from the morgue came, and zipped her up in a black bag. Rayna's entire family was crying and hugging, but Deacon sat alone, sobbing to himself. He didn't want anyone if he couldn't have Rayna. There would be no other person for him, because she was the one, she was his soul mate. He had loved her so much and now she was gone._

"Uncle Deacon?" Deacon heard a voice say. "Uncle Deacon please wake up."

He opened his eyes to see Scarlett staring worriedly at him.

"You were tossing and turning so much," she said. "Are you okay?"

Deacon nodded. His entire body was covered in sweat. He got out of the cot and stumbled tiredly over to Rayna, to make sure that she was still in her bed. She was there, and her heart monitor showed a steady heartbeat.

"It was just a dream," he whispered to himself. "Just a bad dream." But Deacon knew that his dream could of easily been reality, and that thought terrified him.

* * *

**I hope you liked it! Please review! Also I'm going to the beach this weekend so I might not have time to post anything, but I'll try to at least get a short chapter. And I'm on summer break now so there will definitely be chapters next week!**


	11. Chapter 11

**This is a really short chapter that I wrote before I left for the beach. I haven't had the chance to post it until now. It goes back in time by 2 hours.**

* * *

**Two hours earlier**

Scarlett opened the door to her home and entered hesitantly. She knew that Gunnar had been annoyed that she had backed out on their plans and she wasn't sure how he would react when they saw each other. Gunnar was sitting on the couch watching TV, and when Scarlett walked into the room he didn't look up.

"Gunnar?" She asked, coming to stand beside the couch. He didn't answer. "Gunnar, I'm so sorry. I know that I said that I would leave with you, but I really had to stay. But I'm here now, please talk to me."

Gunnar looked up. "What do you want me to say, Scarlett? That I understand that you backed out on our plans just because they had to run some tests? Scarlett, it's a hospital. They run test on people all the time, it's really not that big of a deal."

"These weren't standard tests, Gunnar. They were trying to see why she hasn't woken up yet. These were really important, and Uncle Deacon needed me."

"Scarlett, he's a grown man. He can handle being places by himself."

"You know that's not true. You were there after he found out about Maddie—when Uncle Deacon gets upset, he could get drunk, and that's what caused this whole mess in the first place. Someone like him needs support in tough times."

"So call Coleman. You can't just spend all of you time in a hospital on the chance that he decides that he wants a drink. It's not fair to you, and it's really not fair to me. We're supposed to be there for each other, but you won't leave the hospital."

"I cannot believe that you just said that. You want to talk about being there for each other? I'm worried about my uncle and you're one hundred percent _not_ there for me. I'm trying to keep myself together as I watch my uncle falling apart before my eyes, and all you can seem to think about is yourself." Scarlett turned wo walk away, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Gunnar had walked up and was now standing directly behind her.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so selfish while you're going through such a hard time. And you're here now, do you want to go get something to eat?"

Scarlett sighed, and contemplated the idea in her head. She was still angry at him, but she couldn't resist the idea of spending some time with Gunnar. "Okay..." She replied reluctantly. He smiled and hugged her.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you too," she said.

After their meal, Scarlett and Gunnar were walking hand in hand back to his car, when Scarlett's phone rang.

"Hello?" She said.

"Hey, Scarlett, it's Rayna's sister, Tandy. Um, Rayna's heart stopped and they started it again, but your uncle was really scared and well, he's asleep now but I think you should come. I think he needs you."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Scarlett looked up at Gunnar and sighed. "I', so sorry, this was great, but they had to restart Rayna's heart and Uncle Deacon's not taking it well."

To her surprise, Gunnar looked truly concerned. It was like in the past two hours he had completely switched form being self-centered to worried about Scarlett and her uncle. "You should get there as soon as possible. Instead of going back to get your car, let me drive you there." He said.

"Um, okay," she replied, confused.

Scarlett and Gunnar got in the car and quickly drove to the hospital. Gunnar dropped her off and went to go park. When Scarlett reached Rayna's room, she saw her uncle on a cot, tossing and turning. He looked incredibly distressed, which worried her.

"Uncle Deacon?" She said. "Uncle Deacon please wake up."


	12. Chapter 12

**There are a few parts where it changes dates. Just letting you know so when the amount of time since the crash changes you know that it's supposed to change. Enjoy!**

* * *

"No. I'm not going. Not while Mom's still in the hospital. _No_."

Teddy sighed as his older daughter yelled at him. He was trying to convince her that she needed to return to school, but she didn't want to do until her mother was better. Unfortunately, it had been four days since the accident and Rayna showed no signs of waking up.

"Maddie, honey, you need to go back to school eventually." He replied, trying to keep his voice calm even though he was incredibly frustrated. After all, it wasn't like he didn't understand her pain—he desperately wanted Rayna to wake up too. But he knew that it might take a while, and they couldn't completely stop their lives and wait.

"I will go back to school. After Mom is released from the hospital."

"That's unrealistic. She still hasn't woken up and even when she does, she'll be in the hospital for a while and then rehab. You can't stop going to school."

"Fine, then just until she wakes up. I'll go back then."

"Maddie, I know that this is hard, but you need to accept that she might not wake up anytime soon or at all."

"I can't believe you! She's only been in the hospital for four days and you've already given up on her?" Maddie screamed, and then ran into her room, slamming the door behind her and leaving Teddy alone to contemplate what she had just said.

_I haven't given up on her, _he thought. _It's only been four days; she's going to wake up. _But Teddy wasn't sure if he believed it. Even four days could mean a lot. It could mean brain damage. It could mean that her organs were about to fail. It could mean that his ex-wife would never be conscious again.

Teddy groaned and then started towards Daphne's room. He didn't want to think Rayna right now, it was too upsetting. And maybe he would at least get one daughter to go to school.

* * *

Deacon stared at Rayna's gorgeous face as he stroked her hand. It had now been eight days since the accident. He didn't understand why she wasn't waking up. The doctors had checked and rechecked her brain, but they couldn't find anything that was keeping her unconscious. Her organs were working fine; she was even breathing on her own. At this point, everyone was just waiting for her to open her eyes. Deacon heard a knock at the door and he looked up to see Juliette outside. He gave her a wary look. Juliette had been there once before, three days after the accident, but that had been a brief visit, just to tell everyone that she was praying for Rayna. Now she was back, and Deacon wasn't sure what she wanted. After all, the two women had never really liked each other, so why would Juliette come now?

"Hey," Juliette said, quietly. "I was wondering if I could talk to Rayna for a bit."

Deacon was confused, but he nodded and left the room. He stayed outside the room, and listened to the one-sided conversation.

"So, I've been praying for you. And your family. You know, I really appreciated how you came to my mama's funeral. I know that we've never really liked each other, but honestly I was kind of jealous of you. You always seemed like you had it all—the great career, the fame, the loving family. I never realized how tough it's been for you. All of that stuff with Deacon—that's just like me and my mama. I'm sorry for always being so rude to you. Um, so I hope that you can hear me because this is really important: you need to fight. I know that you're not ready for your life to be over, and I know that you want to get back to your family. But it's going to be hard to bring yourself back to reality. So you need to fight. You need to put forth all of your effort, and fight to wake up."

Deacon then heard Juliette get up, and walk towards the door. She exited the room and smiled at him.

"I'm done," she said, before turning and walking away down the long hallway.

* * *

Thirteen days. Tandy had never thought that she would spend any part of her life counting days. Weeks, maybe. Or months. Those were long enough to mean something, so she counted those. But individual days? They never seemed that important, and often blended together. But not now. Here she was, counting each day, hoping that her little sister would pick a day and open her eyes. The past thirteen days had been complete torture as she slowly felt herself and those around her returning to their normal lives. The girls were back in school, Teddy had returned to his mayoral duties, and Tandy was once again working for her father. After quitting, she was sure that those days were done. But he seemed absent now, as if he couldn't concentrate on anything but his own thoughts. Tandy had decided that he needed the help, at least until Rayna woke up. _If _Rayna woke up. Because with each passing day, it was harder for Tandy to remain hopeful. She tried to cling to her hope, but it kept on slipping away, and each day less remained. Tandy tried to remind herself that thirteen days wasn't that long, but she knew that each day the chance of Rayna waking up decreased. And every night, Tandy lay in bed calculated the probability that Rayna would wake up the following day. Tandy had often disagreed with her sister—especially over issues pertaining to their father. But she still loved her enough that she knew that if Rayna died she would be beyond devastated. No matter how much the sisters fought, they loved each other unconditionally, and Tandy had always taken that relationship for granted. But now her sister might die, and she had no idea what she would do without her.


	13. Chapter 13

**I've been getting a lot of reviews asking when Rayna was going to wake up, so I wanted to give you a sort of time frame for that. It won't be right away, but I promise not to drag it out too long. I don't want y'all to get bored or anything! I just want to have a little more time for the characters to think about how much they need her and how important she is to everyone. And then we can have the fun part when she wakes up!**

* * *

Deacon was asleep in a chair next to Rayna's bed when he heard footsteps in the doorway. He groaned, opened his eyes, and checked his watch. It was 3:30 in the afternoon, which meant that Rayna's daughters were here. Daphne had returned to school on Rayna's sixth day in the hospital, and Maddie had returned on the ninth. Once both girls were in school, they began coming at exactly 3:30 every afternoon to visit their mother. It was now the eighteenth day, and the routine was well known. Every day, Deacon would leave the room and go get something to eat, to give Daphne and Maddie some time with their mom. He hated this time. Even when Deacon wasn't physically with Rayna, he was mentally with her. He would sit in the hospital cafeteria worrying that she would die while he was gone and he would never get to say goodbye. But Deacon knew that this was important. Rayna's daughters needed to spend time with her, and Deacon needed to stop staring at Rayna. Because that was really all that he did. Sometimes he talked to her, but mostly he stared at her face. He tried to convince himself that he was watching her to look for signs that she was waking up, but he knew that in reality he was memorizing her features in case she died. Deacon had promised himself that no matter how long Rayna remained unconscious, he would never give up on her, but now he wasn't sure how long he could remain hopeful. He also wasn't exactly positive how long he could remain sober. After all, he was currently living in hell. This was not how he wanted his life with Rayna to be—him staring at her as she lay in a coma. Deacon wanted them to be together, to share custody of the girls with Teddy, to spend the rest of their lives with each other. But now, his dreams seemed far from reality.

* * *

"Do you want to go first?" Maddie asked her younger sister.

"Okay!" Daphne replied, and she ran up to sit in the chair next to their mother's bed. As Maddie walked left the room and closed the door, she heard her sister start talking.

"Hi Mommy! I had a really fun day today! This girl in my class brought cupcakes because it was her birthday and they were so yummy!"

Maddie sighed, and leaned against the closed door. She was exhausted. She spent her days at school, trying to at least pay a little attention to her teachers, her evenings attempting to concentrate on homework, and her nights struggling to fall asleep. She failed in all three areas. She barely even heard her teachers, her homework remained undone, and she stayed up most nights tossing and turning. All Maddie could think about was her mom. For the first few days of her mom's coma, Maddie was certain that the adults were keeping something from her. That there was some reason that Rayna wasn't waking up, and they just weren't telling her. After begging her father enough, Maddie finally found out the truth. No one was keeping anything from her; the doctors really didn't know when her mom would wake up. Once Maddie knew the truth, she finally understood the saying _Ignorance is bliss_. Because Maddie had truly believed that the doctors knew what was wrong and had a plan to fix it. Knowing that this wasn't the case was a hard reality. Maddie almost wished that she could go back to her ignorance, but she knew that even if she hadn't begged and pleaded for the truth, eventually she would have figured it out. Eighteen days was a long time.

Maddie's thoughts were interrupted by the handle of the door turning. She quickly moved away from the door so that Daphne could open it. Then she entered the room, and closed the door behind her. Maddie walked over and sat down beside her mom's bed. She took a deep breath, and began to talk.

"Hi, Mom, it's Maddie. Nothing much has really happened since yesterday. I went to school, but I'm not really sure what happened. I couldn't stop thinking about you. Mom, I need you to wake up. I love you so much. I know that you know how I'm feeling right now—your mom was in a car accident when you were a year younger than I am. But your mom died. Please don't die, Mom. I need you. You've always been there for me, and I still need that. Mom, I can't survive without you. If you die, I don't know what I'll do." Maddie started to cry. "Mommy, I love you and I need you and I want you. Please wake up." Maddie kissed her mom's cheek, stood up, wiped her eyes, and left the room. Daphne was there waiting for her and the two sisters started their walk down the hallway to exit the hospital.

* * *

**I hope you liked the first part from Maddie's point of view! Please review! And sorry that there's no Scarlett and Gunnar (I've gotten requests for that). I'll definitely have them in the next chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry for the wait before this update. I had really bad writer's block and it took me a long time to come up with this chapter. I hope you like it!  
**

* * *

Bucky knew that he should have come earlier. He was practically Rayna's family. And every night since he had found out that Rayna was in the hospital, he had regretted not visiting her that day. Every night, he assured himself that it was okay that he hadn't gone that day; he would go the next day. But he didn't go. It wasn't that he wasn't worried about Rayna—he was. And it wasn't that he didn't want to see her—he desperately wanted to. The thing that kept Bucky away was fear. He was terrified of what he would see when he entered Rayna's room. Bucky had know Rayna for a long time, but he had always know her as a healthy, beautiful, and successful woman, strutting around stages with incredibly high heels and belting out lyrics to her songs. The thought of seeing her lying unconscious in a hospital bed made his stomach turn and his hands sweat. Bucky knew that he would have to see her eventually, though, and he had slowly worked up the courage to get in his car and drive to the hospital. It was now Rayna's twenty-second day in the hospital, and Bucky had finally gotten himself to come. When he entered the hospital room, he immediately noticed Deacon, sitting in a chair next to the bed. He forced himself to look next to Deacon, and for the first time since the accident, he saw Rayna. Bucky stood in the doorway, unmoving, as he scanned his eyes over Rayna's body. She had a bald patch where her hair had been shaved for brain surgery. What was left of her hair was braided, presumably by one of her daughters. There were tubes running into both of her arms and her chest and cuts and bruises covered all of her visible skin. Her chest rose and fell evenly, and she looked as though she were in a peaceful sleep. She lay at a slightly awkward angle due to her pelvic injuries. Bucky knew that under her sheets there were more bandages and inside her body there were more injuries, but he didn't want to think about that. Rayna looked bad enough from the outside, thinking about the inside would only make him feel even more panicky. Because although he hadn't been here before, he had been getting updates from Tandy, and he knew that she should have woken up weeks ago, and this caused him to panic and worry. Bucky stepped forward and cleared his throat, causing Deacon to look up.

"Um, could I talk to Rayna...alone?" Bucky asked.

Deacon didn't look happy, but he stood up silently and left the room, closing the door behind him. Bucky wasn't entirely sure how much talking he would do, but he was positive that he didn't want Deacon watching him as he tried to find words to express his feelings. He was uncomfortable enough without being watched. Bucky sat down on the edge of the chair and checked his watch. Unfortunately, there was nowhere else that he needed to be, so he couldn't escape this. He just opened his mouth, and began to talk.

"Um, I've missed you..." He said, and then watched her, before remembering that she wasn't going to respond. "Oh, and I found a demo for Will Lexington and—" Bucky stopped himself. He hadn't meant to talk about work, but it was all he could think to say.

_Why can't I think of anything to say that's not about work? _He wondered. _I spend enough time with her and I know enough about her that there should be plenty to talk about. Why is this so hard? _Bucky began to think that coming to the hospital was a mistake. He had nothing to say to Rayna and seeing her only made him worry. But he knew it was his duty to come—not as her manager, but as her friend. So Bucky began to talk.

* * *

Scarlett ran her fingers through her hair, desperately trying to make herself presentable, as she raced to the car. The phone ringing had woken her up about ten minutes ago. She had answered and was immediately yelled at by the voice on the other end.

"Did you think the fact that my brother was in a car accident was something to keep to yourself?" Her mother had said. She had then gone on to explain that she had called to check up on Scarlett and Gunnar had answered the phone. He had mentioned that Scarlett was sleeping in because she was exhausted from spending so much time at the hospital. Scarlett's mother had informed her that she had been shocked to hear that her brother was in a car crash twenty-two days ago and Scarlett hadn't bothered to tell her. Scarlett was now being forced to go to the airport, because apparently the minute her mother had heard the news she had jumped on a plane and was now waiting for Scarlett to pick her up. Gunnar was already in the driver's seat when Scarlett hopped into the car. She glared at him as he started to drive.

"Why on earth did you tell my mama?" She asked.

"Um, Scarlett, he's her brother, she deserves to know." He replied in a tone that suggested that he had no idea why Scarlett was so annoyed.

"I was going to tell her _after_ he was free of all of his cuts and bruises. She's a very emotional person and when she sees him she's going to scream and sob and be altogether overly dramatic."

"But Scarlett, he looks fine. All he had are some fading bruises, a cut on his forehead, some other small cuts, and a slight limp. He actually looks great for someone who was in that horrible of a car crash. I mean, look at Rayna."

"I know, but she won't see it that way. She'll think of him as black and blue, covered in deep gashes, and barely walking. And don't mention Rayna to her—she loves her music and she'll sob over her too."

"Too late." He said guiltily.

"Gunnar please tell me that you didn't!" She exclaimed.

"Well she asked if Deacon was drunk and therefore crashed the car, and I said he was drunk but not driving. Then she asked who _was_ driving so I said Rayna, and she asked how Rayna was doing. So I told her."

"Wait, back up. You told her that Uncle Deacon was drunk? Have you lost your mind? That is _not_ something that she needs to know. Oh, no, this is bad. She is going to be full-blown panicking when we get her. He's hurt and he's drinking. You didn't mention who caused the accident right? You know, that he was drinking and she was distracted by trying to pull away the bottle. Did you manage to keep your mouth shut about that one?"

All Scarlett had to do was see the guilty look on Gunnar's face to know that he'd told her mother this detail as well.

"Gunnar! Do you keep anything to yourself?" She said.

"At the time I had no idea that these things were secrets." He replied, defending himself.

"He's hurt, he's drinking, he's caused and accident. This will be worse than a panic attack. She is going to be completely hysterical."

"I'm really sorry Scarlett, I had no idea."

She sighed. "It's okay, I probably should have warned you. Just in the future be careful what you tell her."

The pair arrived at the airport, parked, and then walked into the entrance by the baggage claim. A woman came running at full speed and slammed her body into Scarlett's. The woman then promptly began sobbing so even though she was screaming, Scarlett couldn't understand anything that she said. She sighed. This was going to be a horrible car ride home.


	15. Chapter 15

Deacon heard noises out in the hallway and he looked up from Rayna's face to see his sister coming straight as him. She enveloped him in a hug, gripping him tightly, as he looked over her shoulder at Scarlett.

"Who told her?" He mouthed. She pointed at Gunnar. Deacon sighed, and pushed his sister off of him.

"I came...as soon...as I heard," she wailed in-between her sobs.

"You really didn't have to come," he replied.

She looked at him in shock, and stopped crying. "Of course I had to come! You could have died!" She resumed her sobbing.

"Yeah, but I didn't die," he pointed out. "I'm fine."

"You are not fine! Look at you! You're covered in so many cuts and bruises that I can barely see your skin!"

"That's an exaggeration. I look fine. Now I think you should go home, I'm a little busy here."

That statement caused his sister to turn her attention to the bed. When she saw Rayna, she cried even harder. "What happened to her? Is she going to be okay?" She wailed.

Deacon sighed again. "She had extensive internal injuries and she's been in a coma."

"How could you do this to her? Why did you start drinking again? Have you stopped now?"

"It's personal and yes I've stopped. Now please leave. The doctors and nurses kept me up all night and I'm tired."

"You're staying here at the hospital?"

"Of course I am."

"Well, I don't think that's good for you. You're coming home."

"No. Leave."

"Not until you agree to come with me."

"Look, Rayna is my whole world. I am not leaving her here. Goodbye."

After a few more minutes of arguing, Deacon finally got his sister to go home. He sat back in his chair, exhausted, and immediately fell asleep.

* * *

It was day thirty, and Deacon's sister had finally convinced him to come home. He was annoyed, but he could not keep on fighting her. He was too tired. Lately everything seemed to exhaust him. Even just eating a meal or taking a shower made him want to go to sleep. Maybe it was because at night he dreamed about Rayna. Or maybe it was because she was always his motivation to get up in the morning and do something with himself, and without her he was slowly fading away. When he returned home, he was surprised to see his sister's things on his couch. He had assumed she was staying with Scarlett, but apparently not. Deacon groaned and lay down on his bed. Soon he was asleep.

_ Deacon opened his eyes and sniffed the air. He could smell Rayna's amazing pancakes cooking in the kitchen. He got up out of bed and snuck up behind her, quickly wrapping his arms around her waist. She yelped and jumped a little in surprise and he grinned. Sneaking up on Rayna never got old. She turned around and kissed him, and he held her tighter against his chest. He pulled away and led her by her arm over to the couch, where he sat down pulling her beside him. She laughed and kissed him again, pushing his shoulders back with her hands so that he lay down on his back and she could lie on top of him. They remained like this, kissing intensely, until the smoke alarm went off._

_ "Shit!" Rayna cried, and she ran over to remove the pan of burnt pancakes from the stove. She opened the windows and waved a towel around, trying to clear out the smoke. Deacon watched in amusement._

_ "Well there goes breakfast," he joked._

_ She tried to glare at him, but she began laughing. "This is all your fault," she pointed out._

_ "My fault?" He asked, feigning shock._

_ "Yes, your fault. You should have stayed in bed."_

_ "But I missed you," he replied, with a fake pout. He then stood up, and walked over to kiss her again._

* * *

It was the thirty-eighth day of Rayna's hospital stay. Outside of the hospital, life seemed to be completely normal. Rayna's daughters went to school, visited their mom, did their homework, and went to bed. Teddy worked long hours and returned only to see his children briefly before they went to sleep. Tandy and Lamar worked and argued together on a daily basis. Scarlett and Gunnar were always together and were incredibly happy. Scarlett's mother had developed a routine in Nashville. But Deacon's life felt wrong. Sure, he was home again, but Rayna wasn't. He still visited her every day in the hospital, but he had given up hope on her waking up. He fully believed that he would never see her beautiful eyes again, never hear her voice, and never experience her laughter. And this ruined him. He could not have a conversation anymore; he just stared blankly while people talked to him. He still spent all of his time watching Rayna, but he didn't believe that anything would happen; it was just easier than trying to interact with the rest of the world. He felt dead inside. Rayna was the one thing that always kept him together, even when times were tough, and now she was gone. He was falling apart.

On the thirty-eighth day, Deacon was staring at Rayna, when he thought he saw something on her face move. His body was tense and on full alert as he focused all of his attention on her face, but nothing happened. He sighed. He was probably just seeing things. But then in happened again. This time he was sure—her eyelids were definitely fluttering. He held his breath, as she slowly opened her eyes.

* * *

**Does Scarlett's mother have a name on the show yet? I wasn't sure, so i avoided naming her. If she does, could someone tell me what it is? And if she doesn't, does anyone have any suggestions (I have no idea what to name her).**


	16. Chapter 16

**This is a pretty short chapter, but it's important because Rayna is finally awake!**

* * *

Deacon was shocked. For a few seconds he just stared into her eyes. And then reality hit him and he sprang into action.

"Rayna? Can you hear me?" He asked.

"Deacon..." She whispered.

His heart skipped a beat when he heard her voice.

"Yes, Ray?"

"Are you...okay?" She looked up at him, her eyes full of tears.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"I crashed...the car. Are you okay?"

He began to laugh. Deacon found it hilarious that even while she was lying in a hospital bed, Rayna was still more concerned about others than herself. "Ray, I'm fine. It's you everyone's worried about."

"Me?" Rayna was clearly confused.

"Yeah, you. You've been unconscious for thirty-eight days."

"_Thirty-eight days?"_

"Yep and I've gotta tell you, it's been the worst thirty-eight days of my life."

Rayna looked worried. "Are the girls okay? Where are they?"

"Ray, they're fine. They're at home now—it's late. See the cards on the wall? The hand-made ones are from the girls."

Rayna looked relieved. She glanced up at the wall, and smiled when she saw all of the cards that were taped there, including large hand-made ones from her daughters. While she continued to observe her surroundings, Deacon slammed his hand down on the nurse button. Soon, one appeared. When the nurse saw Rayna, she looked shocked. She immediately paged Rayna's doctor and ran over to assess the situation.

"When did she wake up?" The nurse asked Deacon.

He grinned. "A couple of minutes ago."

Deacon was overjoyed. He had given up and now she was back. He wasn't sure what was going to happen in the future, both near and far. For the near future, he assumed there would be reunions and rehabilitation, but he didn't know what how long the rehabilitation would take. In the far future, he had no idea what would happen. He wanted to be with Rayna, but he didn't know how Maddie and Daphne would factor in to that, especially since he was Maddie's biological father. Deacon knew that one thing was for sure—he was not going home tonight.

* * *

Rayna was exhausted. She had been surprised to learn of her coma, and although no one would tell her what her injuries were yet (some ridiculous idea that it would be too stressful for her), she knew that they were serious. She wanted to see her family again, especially the girls. But for now, she could barely keep her eyes open.

_He was drinking as she drove him home. She knew that it was partly due to his addiction, but also partly just to make her angry. And it worked. She was yelling at him, and trying to grab the bottle. She glanced back at the road, and saw a car coming towards them. She screamed and swerved. The car turned sharply and flipped. Her seatbelt broke and her body slammed against the top of the car and she cried out in pain. She closed her eyes and saw her daughters' innocent faces. Her eyes opened quickly again as the car turned over and she fell to the floor. She silently begged God to help her, but the car kept on rolling. And then they got to the edge of the road. Her body flew through the windshield and landed on the ground. The car fell after her and it was partially on top of her body. Rayna knew that in real life this was where she had blacked out. But for some reason she was still conscious. She assumed that this was a dream, but she couldn't wake up. She screamed in pain. The car was pressing into her body and she could barely breathe._

_ "Deacon!" She called. "Deacon, please help me! Someone help me! Please!"_

Deacon was awakened by screaming. He looked over to see Rayna crying out. She was pale, and the hair that wasn't shaved for surgery was stuck to her forehead from the sweat that covered her body.

"Deacon!" She screamed. "Deacon, please help me!"

"Ray? Ray, I'm right here." He replied, worriedly.

"Someone help me!" Rayna yelled.

Deacon shook her shoulder, trying to wake her up.

"Please!" Rayna sounded desperate, and Deacon didn't know what to do. He grabbed both of her shoulders and shook her forcefully. He knew that this probably wasn't completely safe, as she had more broken bones than he could name, but he needed her to wake up. Rayna's eyes opened, and Deacon saw that they were filled with panic.

"Deacon?" She cried.

"Ray, I'm here. Don't worry. I'm right here." He said, trying to calm her down.

She stopped panicking, but she began to cry. "I was in the car again, but this time I didn't pass out. It hurt so much," she said, tears streaming down her face.

Deacon lay down beside her in her bed. "It's okay, Ray." He whispered. "It was just a dream. It's over now. I'm here, and you're safe."

Shortly after, Deacon and Rayna fell asleep side by side in her bed.

* * *

**So now that Rayna's awake we'll have rehab and trying to get rid of those nightmares!**


	17. Chapter 17

Teddy woke up to see the sun streaming in through his windows. He yawned and got up to open them and let in the cool breeze. It was a gorgeous Sunday and he was planning on taking the girls hiking after they visited their mother. Teddy walked into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He felt a little sentimental as he pulled out the cereal bowls—Rayna always made pancakes on Sundays (when she wasn't on tour)—but he was used to burying his feelings. After all, it was the thirty-ninth day of her hospital stay. Teddy checked the home phone and noticed that there was a message from the hospital. His heart sank. He was certain that the hospital was calling to tell him that Rayna had died. This wasn't exactly unexpected news—Teddy had given up hope on Rayna waking up weeks ago and since then he was basically waiting for her to die, as morbid as that sounded. Because Teddy knew that she wouldn't wake up, and the hovering between life and death was awful, so he waited for death. But now that it was happening, he felt overwhelmed with anxiety and grief.

_How will I tell the girls? _He thought. _How will I be a parent without her?_

Teddy decided to listen to the message before doing anything.

"Hello, this is Karen, calling from Vanderbilt University Medical Center for Teddy Conrad. I am calling to inform you that Rayna Jaymes is now conscious and asking for you and your daughters. Please come to the hospital as soon as possible."

Teddy gripped the phone tightly as he processed his thoughts. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Rayna wasn't dead. She was _awake_. Teddy was incredibly relieved. This felt like a dream come true—a woman whom he had been positive was dead, had actually woken up from her thirty-eight day coma.

The sound of the voicemail brought Teddy back to reality. "To repeat this message, press one. To save it, press two. To delete it, press three."

Teddy quickly pressed two and returned the phone to its stand so that he could go tell the girls the news.

"Maddie, Daphne, wake up!" He yelled, banging on both of their doors and then opening them.

"Dad..." Maddie mumbled. She rolled over so that she was facing away from the door and grabbed her pillow, pulling it over her head to block out his voice.

"Daddy, I'm sleeping!" Daphne called, burrowing deeper in her covers.

"Girls, get up quick! We have to go to the hospital—you're mom's awake!"

Teddy watched happily as both Maddie and Daphne shot straight up in their beds and then leaped off of them and raced to the doors.

"Really, Dad? She woke up?" Maddie asked.

"Yep, and she's asking to see you guys."

Daphne quickly ran down the hallway to the front door. "Come on, Daddy, let's go see Mommy!" She yelled.

Teddy laughed. "You woke up fast," he joked.

The three of them got in the car and Teddy drove off toward the hospital. He couldn't help thinking of the last time he woke the girls up to take them to the hospital—the night of Rayna's accident. He had been so sure that she was fine, that he had barely worried on the way there. Teddy still couldn't believe how bad her injuries were, and it was thirty-nine days later.

* * *

Deacon smiled as Rayna opened her eyes and squinted at the bright light of the room, aided by the sun shining in through the windows.

"Hey, Beautiful," he whispered, before leaning in to kiss her. "How'd you sleep?"

"Oh, you mean besides the five times you had to wake me up because I was having the same dream?" She replied sarcastically.

He sighed sadly. "Yeah, Ray, I don't know what to do about that. They could medicate you but they think that it might be too risky since obviously anesthesia has a bad effect on you, and the pills might be too strong too. And I don't think I would survive you being in _another _coma."

"Are there any other options besides no sleep?"

"I'm not sure. Hopefully they'll work something out. In the meantime, I have a surprise for you."

"What is it?"

"I brought my guitar so I could play for you." Deacon lifted it up so Rayna could see it. Then he put it back on the floor and pressed a button to make the back of her bed move into a seated position. Rayna wasn't strong enough to sit up by herself yet, and straining her muscles really hurt her. Deacon picked "At the End of the Day" to play first because they had sung that one shortly before their accident, back when they had first reunited and they were happy. Deacon began to play the introduction.

"That's a nice song," Rayna said. "Is it new?"

"What? Ray, this is 'At the End of the Day'. We wrote this one together twenty years ago."

"I don't remember that." Rayna looked confused.

"Which songs do you remember?" Deacon asked.

"Um, I don't know."

"'Postcards from Mexico'?"

"No..."

"'No One Will Ever Love You'?"  
Rayna shook her head.

"Okay, then do you remember anything that we did a while ago?"

"I had a dream, when I was unconscious, but I can't remember what happened. I lost it after it ended."

"Ray, think. How recent can you remember things?"

"I remember...people. You, Teddy, the girls, Tandy, Daddy..." Rayna trailed off.

"How about events? Do you remember your wedding?"

Rayna's eyes filled with panic. "I don't know. I can't...I can't think of it. I know I got married, but I can't remember where and I can't remember what happened." Suddenly she grabbed Deacon's hand and held it tightly in fear. "Deacon...I can't remember when my girls were born. They were both such special days, why can't I remember them? Deacon, what's happening? I should remember my wedding and they births of my daughters."

"Rayna, it's going to be okay. We'll work on this. You'll remember."

"But what if I don't? What if all of my memories are gone forever?"

"Rayna, you can't think like that right now. You can't get stressed out. Your brain is healing, and you need to be calm. And maybe that'll help you get your memories back."

Just then, Deacon noticed Teddy and the girls coming in so he quickly changed the subject. "Ray, look who's here to see you!" He said, trying to draw some excitement into his voice. Deacon wanted to worry about Rayna's memories, but he would have to wait until the girls left, so he put a smile on his face watched as she greeted them."

"Hi, girls! I missed y'all!" Rayna said, beaming. Deacon wasn't sure how much of her smile was fake until she turned toward him enough for her to give him a pained look.

"Mommy!" Daphne cried as she ran over to give Rayna a hug.

"Be careful!" Teddy called from behind her.

After Daphne had given her mother a gentle hug, Maddie walked up to her bedside. "Hi, Mom," she said. "I really missed you."

"I missed you too, honey," Rayna replied.

Maddie smiled and gave Rayna a hug.

Deacon watched as the family reunited. After about ten minutes of Talking, he could tell that Rayna could barely keep her eyes open. The doctors had warned him that while Rayna was healing, especially at the beginning, it would be hard for her to stay awake for very long due to her brain injuries. He also knew that he inability to sleep for very long before having the same nightmare would diminish her awake time. Deacon decided to intervene before she fell asleep in mid-sentence.

"Hey, girls, your mama's real tired. Do you think you could go get something to eat while she takes a nap?"

Maddie and Daphne reluctantly pulled themselves away from Rayna and walked towards the cafeteria, Teddy in tow. Deacon watched them go, and then turned towards Rayna in time to see her fall asleep. He lowered her bed so that she was lying flat again, and watched her. The sight of Rayna lying still with her eyes closed frightened him. It felt like she was in her coma again. But Deacon knew that the longer she stayed like this before screaming, the better, so he settled back in his chair and tried to doze off.

* * *

Maddie was on her way back from the cafeteria, when she heard screaming coming from her mother's room. She ran to the doorway and looked in. Her mother was screaming and the top of her lungs and crying out for help.

"Mom?" Maddie cried, before turning to Deacon. "What's happening?" She yelled.

He didn't respond as he shook her mother forcefully until she woke up. Then he soothed the sobbing Rayna, before turning to Maddie.

"Bad dream." He muttered.

"That was just a _bad dream_?" Maddie asked incredulously.

"Yeah, she's been having it a lot. You should go back to the cafeteria."

"No, I want to stay."

"Maddie, seriously, go back."

"She's my mom, and I can stay if I want to."

"Maddie, she's going to go back to sleep, and it's going to happen again. You should probably tell Teddy that it's time for y'all to go home. You can come back when she's more awake."

"No! You can't decide when I see my mom. She's been unconscious for over a month, and I want to spend as much time with her as possible."

Deacon sighed. "Fine, but you can't get upset when she screams again."

"Okay."

Maddie wasn't sure if she would be able to handle watching her mother cry out in pain again, but she definitely didn't want to leave, so she figured it was worth a shot.

* * *

**So I decided to add some amnesia. Should I stick with that or resolve it quickly? I thought it might be nice to have Deacon help Rayna remember all of their time together. What do y'all think?**


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry that this update took so long! Also I got some reviews that were concerning the amnesia and whether it would be realistic. I wanted to say before you read this chapter that the type of amnesia that Rayna has totally sounds unrealistic (I agree that it seems like I made it up) but I actually researched it a lot and it's a real thing. Enjoy!**

* * *

Rayna watched as her daughters and Teddy left the room. She was happy that they had come, but she wanted to ask her doctor what was going on with her memory and had been pretty distracted for the whole visit. After she was sure that they were gone, she made Deacon get her doctor. She looked up at them anxiously when they entered.

"Did you tell him?" Rayna asked Deacon.

Deacon nodded, before sitting down in the chair next to her bed and grabbing on to her hand.

"So, Deacon tells me that you're having some trouble with your memory," the doctor said.

"Yeah..." Rayna replied.

"Can you describe the problem?"

"Um, well I can remember people and facts, but I can't really remember any events."

"Okay, so no events at all? Any distant or recent memories?"

"No, the only event that I remember is the accident."

The doctor nodded and wrote something down in the chart.

"Do you think this'll go away?" Rayna asked looking up at the doctor and nervously awaiting his response.

"Well, Rayna, judging from what you told me, I'd say you have source amnesia. It means you can remember facts, but not where you learned them or how they happened. So you know that you got married, but you can't remember how it happened. Or you know that you met Deacon, but you can't remember the event. This is a result of the brain damage that occurred during the accident. Most likely, your memories will return when your brain heals. However, you did have some complications with your brain injuries during surgery, so nothing is definite. I recommend that you rest as much as possible to let your brain heal. You might also want Deacon to bring you mementos from your past—maybe diaries, your wedding ring, photographs, or some other item or items that could help you remember things. Sounds can also help, and since you have been involved with music so long, hearing old songs might help restore some memories."

"I could play for her," Deacon said.

"Great. I want you guys to try all of the things that I said, and I'll check in every day. If we don't see improvement, then we'll do some scans of your brain to see if there's anything abnormal."

"Okay," Rayna said, her voice shaky. She was silent as the doctor turned and left the room. She was silent as Deacon squeezed her hand and positioned himself in her eyesight.

"Ray, it's going to be okay. We'll get you memories back. I promise." He said.

Rayna remained silent. She wished that she could turn away, but moving her head was incredibly painful, so she just closed her eyes.

"Rayna?" Deacon asked.

Rayna ignored him. She didn't know what to do, how to react to the information she had been presented with. She just wanted to remember everything again. All of these facts were swimming around in her head but she had no events to place them with.

"Deacon?" She whispered without opening her eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Sing to me."

Rayna listened intently as Deacon opened his guitar case and pulled the guitar onto his lap.

"No One Will Ever Love You," she heard him whisper before he started playing a song. Rayna listened to the music and tried to figure out what lyrics she would sing, but none came to her. She waited for Deacon to start singing, but figured it must be a song where she sang the beginning. She wished that she knew what to do, but she didn't. Deacon began to sing, and Rayna attempted to recognize the lyrics, but she just got more and more confused. When the song ended, she opened her eyes and looked into Deacon's. He gave her a questioning look, and she shook her head slightly. His face fell. Rayna knew that he was disappointed that the song hadn't helped. She was too.

"I'll have Maddie help us out by singing your parts," he said.

Rayna nodded. "What if I never remember?"

"You will. I'll make sure you remember. It'll be okay."

Rayna wasn't so sure. Deacon was seeing the situation from an outside perspective, but she was the one with her messed up brain. She was the one who couldn't remember everything. She was the one who could no longer sing the songs they wrote together. And that caused her to have a harder time believing that her memories would just suddenly come back to her.

* * *

Deacon glanced towards the door for what felt like the millionth time. He was waiting for Maddie to come and sing for Rayna. Although it was killing him to not be her sole helper when it came to regaining her memory, he knew that there was no way he could sing songs like "Buried Under" and "Stronger Than Me" for her. So he had asked Maddie to help. But Deacon was nervous. He had only been alone with Maddie once since he had found out that she was his daughter and that had been brief because Rayna had started screaming shortly after Maddie arrived. But Maddie was coming now, and though Rayna would be there soon, right now she was getting some x-rays to see how her bones were healing. Deacon heard footsteps down the hall and watched as Maddie entered the room. He felt his whole body tense up.

"Hey," she said as she walked into the room. He watched her glance to where the bed should be and notice Rayna's absence. "Where's my mom?" She asked sounding worried.

"She's getting some x-rays. She should be back soon." Deacon replied.

"Oh."

Deacon analyzed her response in his head, trying to figure out what it meant.

_ Did she mean 'oh' as in she was disappointed that her mother wasn't' here? _He wondered. _Does she not want to spend time alone with me? Or does the 'oh' mean she feels uncomfortable and wants to end our conversation? Maybe it means she's indifferent to whether she's alone with me or not? Do I want her to be indifferent? No. I want her to want to spend time with me. I think. But it's scary, spending time with her as a father._

Deacon's mind was racing, but it all stopped when Maddie sat down in a chair next to him and turned to face him.

"Deacon?" She asked.

"Yes?"

"Are things going to be weird between us now?"

"Oh, honey, I hope not. Actually, I was thinking maybe we could hang out sometime. We could get some food or something."

Her face lit up. "I'd like that." She said, smiling.

He smiled back at her. "Great."

Just then, Rayna was wheeled back into the room on her bed.

"Hey, Maddie!" She exclaimed, smiling. "Are you hear to sing some music for me?"

"Yeah," Maddie replied. "But Mom, I still don't get why you need me to sing your songs for you."

Deacon and Rayna exchanged a glance. They had decided not to tell anyone about the amnesia unless it continued for a while.

"Well, I want to hear my songs but I'm not feeling up to singing them myself." Rayna lied.

"Oh, okay," Maddie said.

Deacon studied Maddie's face to see if she had truly bought the lie. She didn't seem to be faking her response, and he was satisfied. He pulled out his guitar and got ready to play some music.

* * *

**So I didn't resolve the amnesia yet, but I'm definitely resolving it fast. Just this was right after she woke up so it would have been awfully fast to do it in this chapter. But I'll probably resolve it in the next chapter!**


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm so sorry about how late this is. I was on vacation and I didn't have access to a computer. This is sort of a filler chapter, but it shows how hard her recovery process is which is important.**

* * *

_Beep, beep, beep, beep..._

It had been five days since Rayna had woken up from her coma, and the beeping of her heart monitor was driving her crazy. She had repeatedly asked the doctors and nurses why they didn't turn it off now that she was awake, but all they ever said was that they were still concerned that her heart rate might not stay stable and they want to closely monitor it. Currently, she was lying in bed waiting for Deacon to return from getting breakfast. Rayna was excited. Today was her first day getting to eat real food. Sure, it had to be pretty mushy—Deacon was getting her applesauce—but it was still food. For the past five days she had been fed through a tube and drunk some thin liquids, but now that her digestive organs were mainly healed, the doctors had decided it was safe to eat a little. Although it didn't seem like a big deal to her family members, the eating thing actually really bothered Rayna. She felt like if she couldn't even _eat_, she was incredibly far from getting her life back to normal. Rayna knew that it sounded ridiculous, but she felt like despite the fact that she was mainly immobile and couldn't really do anything but lie in bed, now that she could eat she was on her road to recovery.

When Deacon entered the room, Rayna looked up at him, full of anticipation.

"Did you bring my applesauce?" She asked.

"Of course I did," he replied, laughing. "You only mentioned it about fifty times before I left."

"Shut up Deacon, I'm excited."

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I know you are."

Rayna tilted her head back so his mouth was now on hers. They kissed deeply for a minute before she pulled back. "Applesauce!" She demanded.

Deacon laughed and set down the applesauce on a tray that he placed on her bed. He then sat down in a chair next to her bed and sipped his coffee. Rayna tried not to be jealous of him—she wasn't allowed to have coffee because she was barely sleeping even without caffeine in her body. Instead of thinking about that, she focused on what she could have—applesauce. For now, that would have to be enough to make her happy.

Rayna stared at the spoon, trying to decide which arm could lift it. She had dislocated her right shoulder, and broken her left elbow and one of the bones in her left forearm. Her right arm was in a sling, and her entire left arm was in a cast. Neither one seemed like they would be able to pick up the spoon. Rayna glanced up at Deacon to see if he noticed her hesitation. He appeared to be distracted by his muffin. She sighed quietly to try and get his attention. Deacon's head snapped up to attention.

"Rayna? What's wrong?"

She locked her eyes with his and then directed her gaze down at her food. Even after all these years with Deacon, she was still a little too embarrassed to ask him to feed her. Instead, she hoped that he would pick up on what she needed by himself. Deacon stared at her for a moment, confusion written all over his face, before realizing what she needed. He smiled, put down his muffin, and lifted the spoon.

* * *

Rayna awoke on day six to the sun streaming in through the windows and flooding the hospital room with warmth. She squinted, and blinked rapidly until her eyes adjusted to the bright light. Then she began her morning ritual. Every day she would first try to remember her dream, and then work her way backwards from the accident, trying to grasp a memory. So far, she could not recall any events. But today was different. Today, she remembered her dream—it was the day she told Teddy that she was pregnant with Maddie. Not exactly a happy memory as she had been crying, but still a memory. Rayna thought her way backwards from the accident and realized that her other memories had returned as well. Relief flooded through her body. The amnesia had been temporary, just like the doctor had said. It was gone. She had memories again. Yesterday she had gotten to eat and today she got her memories back. For the first time since her accident, Rayna truly felt hope that she could recover.

* * *

Deacon was half-asleep in his chair, when the screaming started. He groaned and pulled himself up.

"Ray?" He whispered, gently moving her shoulder. "Rayna, wake up."

The screaming continued and he glanced towards the doorway to see if there was a nearby nurse who could help him wake her up. But blocking the doorway were Rayna's daughters. Maddie looked calm, and she entered the room to assist him. But when Deacon moved his gaze to Daphne, he realized that she had never witnessed the screaming before. Deacon and Teddy had made sure that Daphne was never there when Rayna was sleeping.

"Shit," he whispered as he saw the horror that covered her face.

* * *

**No more amnesia! I didn't like the way that I wrapped that up, but I was basically just trying to end it and move on, so sorry about that.  
**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry that this update took so long. I hope you like it!**

* * *

"Deacon? Should I go talk to her? Should I wake up Mom? What do you want me to do? Deacon? Deacon can you hear me?"

Deacon wasn't sure how to deal with the situation or where to start. He felt overwhelmed with the flood of problems surrounding him. Rayna was still screaming, Daphne was crying in the doorway, and Maddie was asking him a non-stop stream of questions that were only causing his tension to escalate. He looked out over Daphne's head to see if there was anyone that could help him, but the hall way was empty. He felt panicked. All his life he had been responsible for just himself, and now here were these two girls, with one parent at work and the other in a hospital bed, who were depending on him to solve everything. And he was failing miserably. Deacon was still standing frozen in the middle of the room staring out of the doorway. But when Maddie slipped her hand into his, it snapped him out of his trance. He glanced down at her and saw her looking up at him with concern in her eyes. She gave him a reassuring smile and squeezed his hand. That was all it took to get Deacon to jump back into action.

"Get Daphne and take her to the bathroom. Splash some water on her face and help her calm down. But wait to explain the screaming. Your mom will want to do that. I'll wake her up while you're gone." Deacon instructed Maddie, before giving her a quick hug and leaving her to go assist Rayna. Maddie grabbed Daphne and took her out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Deacon held Rayna by her shoulders shook them gently while yelling her name. After a minute she woke up, groggy and completely exhausted.

"I _just_ fell asleep," she groaned. "Why can't it at least wait until I've slept for a couple hours?"

Deacon chuckled softly. "Because that's not how nightmares work. They're not conveniently timed." He leaned down and kissed Rayna's forehead before sitting down on his chair.

"How are you feeling?" Deacon asked, while glancing at her monitors to check her heart rate and blood pressure. This was a ritual that he was very accustomed to—every single day after Rayna woke up Deacon asked how she felt and checked out her monitors. He had been terrified the entire time that she was in a coma and now he was dedicated to making sure her health kept on improving. Deacon was not sure of many of his life decisions, including the many times he fell off the wagon, but he knew that he loved Rayna more than anything in the world and dating her was the best choice that he had ever made. It had taken all of his strength not to fall apart and drink his pain away while Rayna was unconscious and he was sure that he wouldn't be able to keep the same self-control if she was that near to death again.

* * *

Rayna waited anxiously as Deacon went to get Maddie and Daphne. She had been horrified when she'd heard that Daphne witnessed her latest nightmare and although she knew that she had to discuss the incident with her daughter, she was dreading the conversation. When she had learned that she was going to be a mother, she had read tons of parenting books and had studied all of the textbook discussions held when children hear, see, or experience particular events. But nothing had prepared her for having to explain to her eight-year-old why she'd seen her mom screaming out in pain and fear. All her life, Daphne had been protected in a nice home, with a nice school, and with adults who cared for her. She had always been told that as long as she followed rules and stayed out of trouble, then she would stay unharmed. But now she was being prematurely taken out of her sheltered bubble. She was seeing how good people could end up in the hospital from a few mistakes. She was witnessing how accidents can hurt people not only physically, but mentally too. She was being forced into seeing her mother be weak and dependent on others for help, the opposite of how she was at home. Rayna had no idea how to make this situation okay or even help Daphne cope with it. But she knew that she had no choice.

When Daphne entered the room, Rayna noticed that her eyes were filled with fear. Rayna offered a smile in the hopes that Daphne would lose some fear and relax a little. Daphne smiled tentatively in return and sat down in a chair next to Rayna's bed.

"Mommy, what happened?" She whispered sadly.

"Well, I've been having some nightmares. But don't worry, Uncle Deacon's helping me."

"Do you have them every night?" Daphne asked, horror filling her voice.

"No, honey, not every night," Rayna lied.

"Oh. What do you dream about?"

"Um, the car accident."

"The one with Uncle Deacon?"

"Yes, honey," Rayna said, laughing. "I've only been in one car accident."

There was a short silence while Daphne processed the information. Then her face brightened.

"Maybe Aunt Tandy could buy you a dream catcher! She wanted to go shopping with me and I could help her pick it out then."

"A dream catcher?"

"You put it above your bed and it catches all of your bad dreams so that you only have good ones."

"Okay, that sounds great!" Rayna replied, laughing again. She loved how innocent her young daughter was. "Now don't you have somewhere to be? Uncle Deacon said he was driving you to a friend's house."

"Yep! I'm going to a sleepover!"

Rayna smiled at her daughter's enthusiasm. "Have fun, honey. I love you."

"I love you too."

Rayna hugged Daphne and kissed her on the forehead before watching her skip out of the room with Deacon. Once again, Rayna was alone. She stared at the ceiling and counted the tiles until she slowly fell asleep.

* * *

**Please review! Also in case any of you haven't seen it, the Nashville Season 2 promo is out! I tried to post the link here but for some reason it wouldn't let me, but if you just Google it, you'll find it!  
**


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